1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a rotating electric machine with a built-in inverter (inverter-integrated rotating electric machine), and more particularly, to an inverter-integrated rotating electric machine having improved thermal characteristics.
2. Description of the Background Art
Inverter-integrated rotating electric machines are conventionally known. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-274992 discloses an inverter-integrated rotating electric machine, in which switching devices, a control circuit and a large number of wirings carrying small currents, for instance, are accommodated in a case to provide mechanical and electrical safety.
A conventional inverter-integrated rotating electric machine is typically structured in such a way that a control circuit and a power circuit including switching devices are arranged in close proximity to each other in a case, so that heat generated by the switching devices would easily transfer to the control circuit. This conventional structure has a problem that the control circuit tends to be damaged by heat buildup. If the control circuit is isolated from the power circuit by providing a partition for preventing heat transfer within the case, there arises another problem that the provision of the partition results in an increase in the size of the case. A further problem of the conventional structure is that complex wirings and connections are needed to be made, because the power circuit and the control circuit are arranged on a common plane in the case.